Missing Person Photos
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2 to 5 percent of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
Resources for Missing Persons
According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day.
Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends.
Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.
Missing Person Case Updates with Photos
Virgil Wade Tackett
Virgil, date, approximate 1986; Age-progression to age 38 (date, approximate 2006)
Date Missing 06/11/1986
Missing From
Pelican, Alaska
Missing Classification Lost/Injured Missing
Sex Male
Race
White
Date of Birth 12/26/1968 (53)
Age 17 years old
Height and Weight 5'7, 140 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A green or gray plaid flannel shirt and green rain gear.
Associated Vehicle(s) Skiff (accounted for)
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian male. Brown hair, blue eyes. Virgil has a twelve-inch surgical scar on the left side of his body and a chicken pox scar on his forehead. His ears are square in shape and an audible noise is present in his throat when he breathes. Virgil may use the alias Wayne Wade or Wayne Virgil. He goes by his middle name, Wade.
Details of Disappearance Virgil was last seen in a fourteen-foot skiff near Chichagof Island near the Alaskan panhandle on June 11, 1986. He had departed from Pelican, Alaska earlier in the day with a dog and a friend, sixteen-year-old Nick Bevans, and a dog.
Nick stated they had been exploring nearby islands before Virgil departed, leaving him and the dog on a small island. When Virgil didn't return, Nick flagged down a passing boat.
Virgil's skiff was located a short time later near Chicago Island, run aground on a sandbar with its motor still in gear. There was a tie-up line tossed aside, and a radio, a high-powered rifle and two life jackets were present. The zipper pull to Virgil's vest was lying in the bottom of the boat. There was no sign of him at the scene and he has never been heard from again.
Investigators believe he may have fallen out of his skiff, possibly while trying to retrieve something he'd dropped in the water. He was not wearing a life jacket.
Virgil is an accomplished outdoorsman. He resided in Highland County, Ohio in 1986, and had left his home to spend the summer in Alaska. He had planned to get a job on a crab fishing boat, but the position had been taken so he went to work at a cannery instead.
He was a Boy Scout who was just three merit badges away from Eagle Scout rank. He was also a devout Mormon, and he planned to spend his work earnings on future church activities. He vanished three weeks into his trip.
Between October 1986 and January 1987, the CEO of Missing Children of America, a nonprofit missing children's organization, received three anonymous calls from a woman with a Tlingit accent who spoke about a boy named "Wade". The first two calls said Wade was alive and "well taken care of" and asked if anyone was looking for him. In the third and final call, however, the caller said he was "not doing well." These calls have never been traced and it's unclear whether they were legitimate.
There were several unconfirmed sightings of Virgil in the years following his disappearance. Witnesses may have spotted him in the Alaskan cities of Hoonah, Juneau, Pelican and Sitka. Virgil may also have been seen on Montreal Street and Charles Street in Kingston, Ontario, Canada in March 1998. It's possible he may be suffering from total or partial amnesia.
Author R.W. Swartz wrote a book about Virgil's disappearance, titled Cold Water Cold Hearts: A Mothers Search for Her Son Missing in Alaska. Swartz concluded Virgil had most likely drowned on the day of his disappearance. His remains have never been located, however, and his remains unsolved.
Investigating Agency
Alaska State Troopers
907-465-4000
Other
Alaska Department of Public Safety
Child Find Canada
Patricia Mischell
Our Missing Children
Child CyberSearch
Outside Magazine
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Times-Gazette
Outdoor Life
Missing Person Photos
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2 to 5 percent of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
Resources for Missing Persons
According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day.
Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends.
Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.
Missing Person Case Updates with Photos